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What to know about Notre Dame men’s basketball vs. Wake Forest

IMG_7504by:Jack Soble•02/27/24•

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wake forest guard hunter sallis
Wake Forest guard Hunter Sallis. (Courtesy of Wake Forest Athletics)

Notre Dame hosts Wake Forest on Tuesday night, and the Demon Deacons are coming off arguably their biggest win in more than a decade.

Entering Saturday’s matchup against Duke, Wake Forest was ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi’s first team out. The Deacs upset the Blue Devils at home, winning 83-79 in a back-and-forth battle that felt like an NCAA Tournament matchup. They shot 60.4 percent from the field and 52.9 percent from three-point range, with junior guard Hunter Sallis being particularly unstoppable.

Sallis scored 29 points made 11 of 13 shots, including 5 of 6 from beyond the arc. He led Wake Forest to a win that moved it into the projected tournament field and then some — the Demon Deacons are now one of Lunardi’s last four byes.

A loss to Notre Dame would undo much of that progress, so Wake Forest will be ready to go. The Irish, for what it’s worth, can move into 12th place in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a win.

Here’s everything you need to know about the matchup, which comes with one of those great 9 o’clock starts.

Notre Dame vs. Wake Forest game information

  • Teams: Notre Dame (10-17, 5-11 ACC) vs. Wake Forest ( ACC)
  • Date: Tuesday, Feb. 27
  • Location: Purcell Pavilion in South Bend
  • Time: 9 p.m. ET
  • Television: ACC Network
  • TV announcers: Jay Atler (play-by-play), Eric Devendorf (analyst)
  • Radio: 960 WSBT-AM in South Bend
  • Radio announcer: Tony Simeone

Matchup notables

• Sallis leads Wake Forest and is third in the ACC with 18.7 points per game, behind only North Carolina senior guard RJ Davis (21.7) and Pitt senior forward Blake Hinson (18.9). He was so good Saturday that the TV broadcasters practically begged Duke to stick with him and the Blue Devils just wouldn’t. Sallis made them pay.

• Wake Forest features the third-best offense in the ACC, behind only North Carolina and Duke. The Deacs score 79.6 points per game and they allow only 69.7. That +9.8 average point differential is a big reason why Wake Forest sits at No. 25 in the NET rankings. Sophomore guard Kevin Miller, senior forward Andrew Carr and junior guard Cameron Hildreth complete a quartet of scorers averaging 13.5 points per game or more.

• Notre Dame freshman guard Braeden Shrewsberry, if he hits two three-pointers Tuesday night, will set the program record for most threes in ACC play with 52 and counting. The previous mark is 51, set by Prentiss Hubb (2018-19), Matt Farrell (2014-15) and V.J. Beachem (2013-14).

• Meanwhile, fellow freshman guard Markus Burton can make some Irish history of his own with his final five games. Burton is averaging 16.7 points, 4.3 assists and 2.0 steals per game as of Tuesday morning. No Notre Dame player has ever put up 16, 4 and 2 in those respective stats in a full season.

• Burton’s turnovers have also been down recently. He gave it away 4 times Saturday against Syracuse, which broke a streak of six straight games with 3 or fewer turnovers. Before that, Burton — the ACC leader with 3.8 turnovers per game — had 4 or more giveaways in 15 of Notre Dame’s first 20 matchups.

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